The UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources (ISR) supports research into the sustainable use of resources. The ISR recognises that in common with other complex issues with societal importance, research into the sustainable use of resources benefits from a cross-disciplinary, problem-oriented approach.
The UCL ISR aims to work with a broad definition of resources, including both finite resources, such as mineral and petrochemical resources, and renewable resources, such as water and food. The relationship between communities and resources will be a key consideration of the UCL ISR.
Mining and other technologies for resource extraction have far-reaching implications for a number of scientific and technological domains, and for other areas of scholarship in which UCL conducts world-leading research. These include energy, waste, environmental engineering, climate change, corporate responsibility, international law and development (economic, political and societal) in the Global South.
The UCL ISR is supported by funding from BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities under an agreement between UCL and BHP Billiton. The agreement also funds the UCL International Energy Policy Institute based at UCL's School of Energy and Resources in Adelaide, Australia.